O7540 Justice

Palmer stands by China insult

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Tony Walker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Aug-14

Billionaire businessman and Australian federal MP Clive Palmer is engaged in litigation with Chinese state enterprise Citic Pacific over iron ore royalties. When asked about the lawsuits on TV, he said the Chinese Government was looking to exploit Australia, and he used terms such as "mongrels" and "bastards". The Australian Government as well as business leaders have now sought to repair the damage to the relationship with the nation’s foremost trading partner. Palmer refused to withdraw the attack, other than to clarify it was not aimed at the Chinese people. One of the senators from his Palmer United Party, Jacqui Lambie, also said China’s military expansion posed a serious threat

CORPORATES
PALMER UNITED PARTY, CITIC PACIFIC LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

ATO freezes assets of Perth investor

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Original article by Sarah Danckert
The Australian – Page: 17 : 18-Aug-14

The directors of Swiss entity Growth Investment Fund have been ordered by the Federal Court of Australia to comply with an assets freeze order sought by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The agency says there is an outstanding tax liability of $A14m, and the move applies to a stock portfolio worth $A9.5m as well as a total of four bank accounts held in Australia, France and Switzerland. It is believed the ATO’s action stems from a "Project Wickenby" investigation of a Perth-based investor

CORPORATES
GROWTH INVESTMENT FUND, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, REGIS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RRL, EMPIRED LIMITED – ASX EPD, EUROZ LIMITED – ASX EZL, EUROZ SECURITIES LIMITED, MONAVAL VERMOGENSVERWALTUNGS AG, ZERO NOMINEES PTY LTD

Call for review of safety laws

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Original article by Annabel Hepworth
The Australian – Page: 19 : 15-Aug-14

The Council of Australian Governments in 2008 announced a push to streamline workplace health and safety legislation nationally. However the state governments in Victoria and Western Australia have still not joined the framework in 2014, and the Business Council of Australia has now commented on the issue. In a submission lodged with the Federal Department of Employment, the employer body argues the model laws should be watered down in order to persuade all states to adopt them. The Master Builders Australia lobby group had also recently called for reform of the laws

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS

Courts get tougher on sexual harassment, payouts soar

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Original article by Nick Toscano
The Age – Page: 12 : 14-Aug-14

Hall & Wilcox partner Kerryn Tredwell says a recent Federal Court of Australia ruling has created a new benchmark for compensation payouts in sexual harassment cases. It approved an increase from $1A8,000 to $A130,000 for a female executive at software group Oracle, whereas previously amounts of $A90,000-plus were awarded rarely and only in very serious matters such as sexual assault. Australian Human Rights Commission data also show a rise in the number of sexual harassment claims lodged, from 157 in 2007-08 to over 260 in 2010-11 and 222 in 2013-14

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, ORACLE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION COMMISSION, HALL AND WILCOX, QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Mineral Resources guilty over sparkie’s death

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 20 : 13-Aug-14

Simon Ridge, resources safety executive director at the Western Australian (WA) Department of Mines & Petroleum, has welcomed a decision by Mineral Resources. The listed group has pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment, after its Crushing Services International off-shoot suffered a fatal accident at the Christmas Creek iron ore mine in WA of client Fortescue Metals Group. An electrician working for the contractor had been crushed. The parent’s stock on 12 August 2014 rose 3.1% to close at $A10.96

CORPORATES
MINERAL RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX MIN, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, CRUSHING SERVICES INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES AND PETROLEUM

Banks hit by class action on credit card fees

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Original article by Ben Butler, Adele Ferguson
The Age – Page: 1 : 12-Aug-14

The ANZ Bank, Citibank and Westpac have been taken to court over credit card late fees in a class action by Maurice Blackburn. The law suit is an "open class action", with every customer who paid excessive late fees to be automatically included. Maurice Blackburn is believed to be preparing other suits against National Australia Bank, American Express and Commonwealth Bank of Australia

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CITIBANK PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, MAURICE BLACKBURN PTY LTD, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, BANK OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Hird didn’t want ASADA probe

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Original article by Jon Pierik, Adam Cooper
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 12-Aug-14

The Federal Court is hearing a claim by Australian Football League (AFL) club Essendon and coach James Hird, who has been forced to step aside due to an alleged improper supplements program. They argue the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority breached the law by conducting a joint probe. Hird on 11 August 2014 told the court he took part in a self-reporting exercise by Essendon against his will and "signed a deal of settlement under duress, threats and inducements"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AGENCY, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Virgin, Jetstar to face joint action

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 7-Aug-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently launched Federal Court action against Jetstar Airlines and Virgin Australia over allegedly misleading practices. It is being claimed that the carriers’ online booking web sites hide additional fees and charges when they advertise fares for flights. The ACCC’s legal team has now agreed with a suggestion by the judge to combine the two actions into a single one

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Market power laws ‘ludicrous’

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Nassim Khadem
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Aug-14

The National Press Club has heard from Wesfarmers CEO Richard Goyder, also chair of the Business 20 forum advising the Australian Government. His company owns major retailers Coles and Bunnings, and he rejected plans to extend section 46 of the Australian Consumer Law to small business operators in order to protect them against market dominance by large corporations. Goyder threatened that his group’s tax payments of $A1.5bn per annum and employment of 200,000 local jobs could be reduced, if it adopted the profit shifting strategies of overseas-based rivals such as Aldi or CostCo

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COLES GROUP LIMITED, BUSINESS 20 (B20), GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COSTCO WHOLESALE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS. BASEL COMMITTEE ON BANKING SUPERVISION

Top judge takes aim at mandatory sentences

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Original article by Michaela Whitbourn
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 8 : 6-Aug-14

New South Wales (NSW) District Court Chief Justice Reg Blanch will retire on 7 August 2014, as required to at age 72. He has criticised the NSW Government’s decision to roll out mandatory sentences for offences such as "one-punch kills". Blanch has been a criminal lawyer and served as the first director of public prosecutions in NSW, appointed in 1987. He is widely credited with improvements to the processes at the court during his time as judge, and will now be chair of the Serious Offenders Review Council advising the Parole Board

CORPORATES
DISTRICT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, NEW SOUTH WALES. STATE PAROLE AUTHORITY, NEW SOUTH WALES. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, NEW SOUTH WALES. SERIOUS OFFENDERS REVIEW COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY